In October 2022, the Texas Supreme Court directed the Texas Access to Justice Commission (TAJC) to study existing rules and recommend actions that would accomplish two goals:
1. Allow qualified non-attorneys to provide limited legal services directly to low-income Texans; and
2. Allow non-attorneys to have economic interests in entities that provide legal services to low-income Texans while preserving attorneys’ independence.
The TAJC formed a working group that met throughout 2023 to study these issues and consider input from the bench, the bar, community partners, and the public.
In December 2023, the working group released its report and recommendations.1
In January 2024, the commission voted to approve several recommendations regarding paraprofessional representation from the working group’s report,2 but the following recommendation was not approved:3
Entities with Non-Attorney Ownership
The working group recommended a limited exception to Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct 5.04.
Rule 5.04(d) prohibits a lawyer from practicing “in the form of a professional corporation or association authorized to practice law for a profit” when ownership interests are held by a non-lawyer. The rule also
Rule generally prohibits lawyers from sharing legal fees with non-lawyers (5.04(a)), and prohibits lawyers from partnering with non-lawyers in the practice of law (5.04(b)).
According to the working group, a sufficiently limited exception to Rule 5.04 would 1) enable non-lawyers to have economic interests in entities that provide legal services to low-income Texans; 2) preserve lawyers’ professional independence; 3) expand access to justice for low-income Texans; 4) be studied first through a pilot program or regulatory sandbox; and 5) might potentially only focus on legal services for which there is a particular need.